Alphabet Soup: FMP
by RurouniGochan
Summary: SousukeKaname drabbles. A theme for every letter of the alphabet, capturing the few moments in life where something doesn't explode into a fiery array of debris. ...Usually.
1. A is for Apple

Word Count: 173

**A is for Apple**

One long strip. Kaname had seen it done on romantic shows but never comprehended its significance. If you didn't want the peel on an apple, what was so special about skinning it in one long strip? Then one afternoon she peeled one for Sousuke and suddenly understood. It was a sign of grace, patience, and delicacy.

She nearly cut her fingers off trying, and in the end the fruit had somehow wound up in several uneven chunks—stubborn bits of peel mocking her. She glared at them, blinking back frustration.

"Thank you, Chidori," Sousuke stated professionally, and popped one into his mouth without looking up from book he was absorbing.

The fact that he hadn't paid attention to her efforts should have been infuriating, but now for some reason it felt… comforting.

She'd been right. An apple was an apple; Sousuke was Sousuke. No need for anything fancy or complicated. It was still simple and sweet, even if the presentation needed work.

In a strange way, she supposed that's what she loved most.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

Recently, thanks to watching "Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu", I've found myself going through a small Sousuke/Kaname spree. They're just cute, what can I say. I love the couples that need a little work, or have their most precious moments during the quieter times of life.

I'm exercising my writing through drabbles right now, and currently I'm testing out a new kind of drabble challenge I've come up with. Basically, I'm writing a drabble for each letter of the alphabet, so there will be 26 here in total--ideally. We'll see how well I can keep this up. Usually I ask for the words for each letter from other people, but I came up with them myself this time.

Haven't written for FMP before, and I'm not sure how well I portray these characters, so I'm open to constructive criticism, advice, and feedback. Thank you for reading!


	2. B is for Borders

Word Count: 207

**B is for Borders**

Borders were very fragile for being so important. A breaching of these invisible lines often leads to horrendous, violent consequences.

"Sousuke you idiot!" Kaname roared, paper fan coming down hard. Apparently he'd just crossed another one of those borders.

"I don't understand," he said, straightening. "I was merely pointing out the possibilities of an enemy using the grounds to their tactical—"

"There are no snipers on the ferris wheel, no traps on the golf course, and no poisons in the fountains!"

Sousuke's eyes narrowed. "I didn't think to check their water source. I'll be right ba—Ack! Chi-Chidori… you're choking me…"

"I try to be nice and treat you to a day at the park and all you can do is play soldier! Fine then! Sergeant Sagara!"

Sousuke snapped to attention. "Yes!"

"We're going to secure the area by scouting each ride under the disguise of civilians. Do you understand!"

His heels clicked together for a salute. "Affirmative!"

"Good!" He blinked in surprise when he felt her hand gently take his own, and was thrown off further when her anger was suddenly replaced with soft eyes. "Then at ease already," she smiled. "We're under cover."

He swallowed. "R-right."

While risky, some borders are just worth crossing.

-owari


	3. C is for Collide

Word Count: 158

**C is for Collide**

For a moment, his senses heightened.

She smelled of lilacs, with hints of chalk dust, earth, and coffee. One sweet odor contrasted against so many other more pungent ones made an interesting aroma—perhaps even intoxicating.

Her voice was sharp but feminine. And for someone who packed such fearsome strength behind her fan, her body was surprising soft. And warm. The contact with it made him wonder how he didn't notice he was cold before.

Sunlight coming in from the windows washed over her hair and skin, giving her a tender glow. Her eyes—one of her strongest charms against him that he would never admit to—radiated a hue of brown he couldn't recall ever seeing before, and suddenly he was tempted to study them longer.

And then the moment passed.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry Chidori."

"Well pay more attention next time!" Kaname scowled before marching on.

Sousuke was left wondering if that was possible.

-owari


	4. D is for Determination

Word Count: 301

**D is for Determination**

It had been a long, grueling process riddle with trial and error—mostly error. But now all the patience, careful planning, and losses were about to pay off.

"B-4."

"Miss."

White and yellow pieces went flying as Kaname slammed her hands down on the table. "LIAR! There's no way I could have missed! I've hit every point around the one spot I _have_ managed to hit you, so by the law deduction I have to have hit _something_!"

"Negative," Sousuke replied. "You were able to land a direct hit earlier, but since I was unable to determine the location the assault had come from, my only other choice was to take evasive maneuvers and get out of reach of the enemy's sonar."

"…So you moved your pieces?"

"Affirmative."

There was a loud crack as fan met skull.

"That's _cheating_!"

Scratching the back of his head, the solider looked down at their game of Battleship. "I don't understand. It's unrealistic to stay stationary when you are unsure of enemy location. I was simply carrying out standard procedure in the events of—"

"It's a _game_, Sousuke, not real life! You play by these rules, not the military's!"

Despite her frustration, Kaname softened when she saw how hopeless he looked in his confusion. She regretted being such a push-over when he looked up, eager to learn, and asked her to let him try again. It was a bad idea, since teaching him the normalcy of anything often resulted in massive headaches.

But whenever he looked at her like that, eyes full of determination and confidence, she found herself believing in anything.

"Alright," she sighed at last. "But we're trying something simpler first. I'm thinking Go Fish."

"Right. But… how would all the preparation and gear for fishing be simpler than this?"

Kaname groaned.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

Wow, thanks for the reviews guys. They give me more confidence.

Um... confession time though, I guess. I haven't seen the entire series. I've only seen Fumoffu, and what I can remember of the first season which I viewed about 2 years ago--once and once only. ...Plus I haven't seen the last DVD of the first season. So I'm really pushing my limits and standards by going out on a limb and writing the characters without seeing/remembering much of their history. (Heck, I had to read fanfiction to remember terms like "The Whispered" and "Mithril". That's sad peoples. Sad.)

But all of you have made me feel welcome and for that I thank you greatly! I hope I don't disappoint anyone with future drabbles.

EDITED 10-26-05 - Just revised some grammatical errors and whatnot that were here earlier. Hopefully all is well now.


	5. E is for Escape

Word Count: 264 

**E is for Escape**

"Chidori, this way!" 

"I can't believe you got me into another mess!" she yelled as three guards rounded the corner behind them. 

"Hurry!" Sousuke ordered, tugging her behind him and around another turn, jumping over a rail and onto the pavilion below, running along the wall and stopping at a thick, potted growth. "Hide here," he said pulling her in and stomach-down in the dirt. She wanted to scream at him for ruining her new outfit, but security came charging up just then and both froze in silence. Her only way of punishing him now was by pointedly ignore him, so she glared at everything in sight but him. 

And then she saw their hands. 

When it had become clear they were in trouble, Sousuke had grabbed her hand and led the escape. As a result she'd been jerked, dragged, stretched, and yanked all over the premises. But he never let go. And now, with their pursuers so near, his hand closed a little closer around hers. 

And after a moment, she squeezed back. 

The guards left, and Sousuke had them back on their feet and sprinting towards the exit. 

"You know," she told him, her voice more tolerant than before, "if you would just stop pointing your gun at everyone, we wouldn't have this problem." 

"I thought he was spying on you." 

"He was a sales clerk." 

"Never underestimate the enemy." 

"Ugh, sometimes I swear—" 

A mall security guard suddenly appeared in their path. "I've found them! They're cutting across the food court!" 

"Chidori!" 

"Yeah, yeah. I know." 

Holding tightly, they ran. 

-owari 


	6. F is for Fool

Word Count: 270

**F is for Fool**

"You're not very good at this undercover stuff, you know."

He looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You say that you're job is to fit in here as a normal high school student but you're anything but."

"I wear the proper uniform, complete assignments, and have participated in various class activities."

"Sousuke," Kaname said flatly. "No normal high school student cleans guns at their desk. Next to stun grenades for that matter."

He blinked and looked back down at the task, his eyelids drooping a fraction as he realized civilian life had miffed him once again. The blue-haired girl sighed.

"You're hardly fooling anyone. The only reason they don't know you're the real deal is because that idea is somehow more ridiculous than the one of you being permitted to use these things on campus. Otherwise, there's not much hiding the truth."

Sousuke swallowed. "The truth…?"

She nodded. "That you're a military-frenzied, five-star general wannabe who would only dedicate himself to his mission."

There was a pause.

"…Those aren't the only things I'd dedicate myself to."

Kaname blinked and stared at him, and the way he stared back made her cheeks heat. "Wh-what else is there…?"

Instead of telling, he resumed cleaning. "It seems I am able to fool people after all. I will take note of this and try to apply it to future—"

"What else were you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, that's classified information."

"Sousuke, answer my question now or I'll—!"

"Chi-Chidori… that's a real grenade…"

Their argument attracted attention from classmates, but ultimately was overlooked and forgotten. Things like this, after all, were quite normal.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

Thanks to those who help point out where I may need to make revisions. I'll try and get on those right away!

On a completely curious note, can anyone tell me the model of Sousuke's handgun? I'm curious and don't know where to look that up at the moment. But I think I'd like to use a detail such as that in future drabbles.

Thanks again everyone!

EDIT 10-27-05 - Made changes to title and word count, as was pointed out to me. Sorry, but I'm lazy and just use the previous file/coding and exchange the story, so sometimes I forget to do little things like this. Thank you, Ariane! You're a big help!


	7. G is for Garden

Word Count: 205

**G is for Garden**

The class community service project at the old folk's home went surprisingly uneventful--in other words, nothing blew up. Considering Sousuke Sagara was in the class, that was really saying something.

Kaname did a great job of keeping an eye on him. He tried planting mines in the flower beds once and booby trap the herb stalks ("The enemy may steal supplies for their own forces," he explained), but she put a stop to both and confined him to weed picking.

At the end of the day she came running up, a colorful bouquet in her arms. "Sousuke, look! The people here gave them as a thank you gift! Aren't they beautiful?"

He glanced at them and was about to lecture on how they could make good camouflage cover. And then he looked up.

She was still sweaty from labor, strands of blue sticking to her cheeks which were bright and rosy from effort and fulfillment, even under the dirt smudges. The disheveled look briefly reminded him of the battlefield, but with a distinct lack of gunpowder and blood. And other soldiers didn't smile in a way that made him stop and think:

"...Beautiful..."

Taking that as his agreement, Kaname beamed as they walked back.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

Thanks for the reference, Ariane! That was a super-sweet link that I've bookmarked for later use. I'd love to recieve any more information sites anyone has. Thanks!

I bought 2 volumes of the manga today and will soon get my hands on more anime. Wish me luck as I further my goal to expand my knowledge on FMP! (Dang, some of these stories in the manga were ideas I was thinking of using for future drabbles though. Or at least similar to...)


	8. H is for Hum

Word Count: 221

**H is for Hum**

_"In 1889, the first European style constitution was applied to Japanese government, developing the country's first baby love. My baby love. I need you, oh how I need--"_

Souske looked up from his history textbook. Kaname was a few feet away in her kitchen preparing dinner. (She still wasn't satisfied with his eating habits.) For some reason, she was humming an old American pop tune, and it was breaking his concentration.

Determined not to let trivial things interfere with his assignment, he tried going back to studying, but kept reading strange phrases like, _"Due to lack of break my heart and leave me sad"_ and, _"Political parties acted more as advisors to make you stay away so long, 'cause baby love"_. It was getting a little infuriating.

But every time he went to ask her to stop, he couldn't. Instead he'd end up watching her fuss about the stove, a pleased smile on her face as she subconsciously swayed to the rhythm. It made her seem content. And in a way, that made him feel the same.

"Dinner's almost ready! Are you done studying?"

"Almost," he lied.

"Well you can finish after. Can you set the table please?"

"Right away."

She was still humming as he arranged the silverware. Then softly, and deliberately lower than her voice, he hummed along.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

I was writing this drabble in my head at work all day today. "Baby Love" (Diana Ross version) popped into my head as the song for Kaname to hum, and it just stuck. Maybe there are more appropriate songs for this couple, but that was just catchy tune that got into my head, hence it was chosen.

The original last line of this drabble, which I added after the last line you see now (before being deleted for word-count purposes), was a line out of the song that my sappy side liked:

_"...All of my whole like through, I never loved no one but you..."_

I mention it here just for you fellow-saps. Sorry it couldn't make the cut though. Thanks for reading!


	9. I is for Indulgence

Word Count: 253

**I is for Indulgence**

When Kaname called telling him to hurry to her apartment, Sousuke naturally assumed there was danger. Grabbing his usual artillery, he nearly broke down her door when he charged in, gun cocked and ready. He certainly didn't expect to suddenly find himself in the middle of an ice cream social.

Sousuke stared at the small group of his classmates who greeted him warmly (despite the armed entry) around mouths and spoonfuls of ice cream. Kaname explained how a store she had passed on the way home broke their freezer. All refrigerated items were being sold at irresistible prices and she'd brought home two gallons of the dessert.

"You told me to hurry," he said, trading his gun for a bowl.

"Of course. We wouldn't want your share to melt."

"I thought there was trouble."

"Sorry, but it was the fastest way to get you over here. Relax! Enjoy yourself!"

While initially disgruntled by the false alarm, Sousuke was soon wrapped up in the atmosphere. There was nothing spectacular about it, but something about the idea of just needing ice cream to pull friends together seemed oddly comforting. It was a memory he burned into his mind—the random chatter, laughter, acceptance—to carry with him come the day he might no longer share their company. It was wrong for him to hope to abandon his duty, but sometimes he wished…

Kaname's caught his eyes and smiled. "Would you like more, Sousuke?"

He nodded. "Very much."

Beside him, his bowl lay empty and forgotten.

-owari

* * *

**Authoress Notes**

Well it was bound to hit sooner or later. I was surprised I had been making it for so long without any writer's block as is. I'm still sluggish, but hopefully there won't be any more 2-week breaks.

The original title for this drabble was Ice Cream, but I couldn't help changing after it was finished. The ending of this drabble had me particularly stumped. I'm still not 100 satisfied, but I did get ideals for other themes from re-writing it. So hopefully you'll see some good results from that.

Thanks for sticking around, folks!


End file.
